


Back Around

by Tenshinrtaiga



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Minor Caroline Forbes/Damon Salvatore, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22634671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenshinrtaiga/pseuds/Tenshinrtaiga
Summary: Reposting old work.Dedicated to ever_neutral for jdphoenix's Caroline Forbes Comment Ficathon.Caroline through the ages.
Kudos: 2





	Back Around

I survived the Inquisition  
Been a harlot  
Been a queen  
Survived for seven hundred years  
And still look seventeen

Caroline gasped harshly for unneeded air as her instincts took over. Her eyes scanned the area, searching for something – anything – that could help get her out of this mess. Spotting light, Caroline lifted up her heavy skirts and began to run. It was times like these – when she was trying desperately not to trip at the most inopportune time – that she hated fashion. Yes, Caroline Forbes had moments where she hated clothes. Because wearing a corset and a large, heavy skirt was not conducive to running for your life.

Unable to resist, she took a look over her shoulder. Eyes widening in fear, she began to run faster. Jumping over tree trunks and ducking branches, her vampire eyesight helped her run smoothly. She could hear the humans stumbling behind her, but they were still keeping pace. She guessed it wasn’t hard to spot the lone blonde girl in a blue dress in the middle of a forest.

Tripping, Caroline cursed and took a second to kick off her shoes. That was the thing about fashion – about everything really – given enough time, everything came around again.

A few years earlier in 3109, she had been delighted when archaeologists discovered how people dressed in the 1800s. It wasn’t much, but it was a reminder of the time when she grew up. Granted, there was a 200 year difference, but it was closer that 3109. At least she knew what a corset was; the archaeologists first thought it was some form of torture inflicted on women. Now, almost 20 years later, corsets and petticoats were the height of fashion.

Bursting through the last bit of forest, Caroline found herself in the middle of a festival. Another thing the archaeologists discovered was how much simpler things were back in the 1800s. Granted, people now thought it was because they wanted to be ‘one with nature’. No one realized that they simply hadn’t developed enough industrially to create the large sprawling cities that now took up a huge chunk of the world. Nevertheless, the discovery sparked a movement of returning to people’s roots which then led to places like this; forests and small villages in the middle of urban cities. It was sort of a mix of a park and a historical town, but people loved it.

But with the discovery of the good, came the discovery of the bad. Stories long forgotten – and better off that way – were soon being retold in the hush of the night. Vampires.

As the times evolved, so did the supernatural. Vampires began drinking cloned blood, witches began using donated animal parts only (PETA got really big in the 2100s and now was the largest human/animal/plant rights organization in the world) and more. But as the supernatural evolved, so did the humans.

When the stories about werewolves and vampires came out, no one believed them. But the knowledge – burned by the sun, enslaved by the moon – spread and soon, people began to notice things. The neighbor who only came out at night, the friend who always got moody and flaked during the full moon… Things began adding up and soon, the Inquisition returned.

This wasn’t the first Inquisition Caroline had lived through. There had been one 2602 in Antarctica where she had been a researcher studying the polar icecaps. Another in the Philippines in 3001 where she had been a photographer for a magazine in the now-super power country (she remembered when it was a third world country consisting of a few tiny islands. In the last 600 years, they became what America was when she was alive.) And those were just the Inquisitions she had lived through personally. There were countless more over the years over race, religion, politics and so much more. But they never affected Caroline. Until now.

After being alive for so long (1116, not that she’d ever tell anyone), she had forgotten what fear felt like. She had gotten used to being at the top of the food chain. Human fights didn’t concern her and that’s exactly what the Inquisitions were: human fights.

But now, people were catching on. They began hunting for vampires, werewolves, witches and more. At first, she hadn’t cared. What could a human do to her? She was fast, strong, smart and had more experience than any of them could dream of. But it wasn’t just one human; it was everyone. People turning on neighbors, friends and family; husbands on wives, sibling on sibling. It became harder and harder to hide.

Unable to get cloned blood anymore due to the suspicion, Caroline turned to an old habit and went out for animal blood. She hadn’t seen anyone, but someone saw her. They had to have because when she went out again, they had been waiting for her.

She ran through the forest trying to escape and now she found herself in the middle of a festival. People began looking at the strange woman covered in leaves who had just come out of nowhere. Trying to look inconspicuous, Caroline began picking the leaves out of her hair and integrated herself into the party. Everyone looked away and resumed their festivities as Caroline looked for an exit.

The sound of twigs cracking caused her to tense up as she peered back to see the Hunt emerging from the woods.

“It looks like someone could use a rescue,” a smooth voice spoke from behind her. Looking up, Caroline’s eyes widened in surprise at the handsome face of Damon Salvatore, “Would you like to dance?” Without waiting for an answer, Damon swept her into his arms and began waltzing around the bonfire. He’d always been unable to resist a good dance.

Watching as the Hunt slowly began to give up, unable to spot her in the crowd, Caroline slowly let a smile cross her face as she looked up. She hadn’t seen Damon sine 2822. They’d had a rather large fight in the then-new country of Bonha and he’d disappeared from where they’d been living together (which hadn’t been that big of a surprise). They never lasted more than a few decades together (and that was if they were being good. When they were being bad, they rarely made it a year).

“Me, saving your life,” Damon spoke, interrupting her thoughts, “Just like old times,” He smirked.

~

Caroline watched as a 3803 silver hover-car slowed as it made its way past her. She smirked as she shifted her leg seductively. Several feet away, the car stopped. Grinning, she shifted her coat so that it covered her body and walked to the vehicle. Being a vampire made the harsh Juss nights bearable, but she still got cold.

Leaning over the passenger’s side door, she looked in as the window scrolled down. In the drivers seat was a barely grown boy. Internally rolling her eyes at rich brats who ran around with expensive cars like they owned the world, she put her best seductive smile on, “Hey, cutie. You looking for a good time?”

“You’re a… harlot,” the boy said softly like he thought his parents were going to jump out at him for even speaking to her.

“That’s one name for me,” Caroline smiled at the old word turned new slang, “Are you interested or not?”

The boy paused in thought as he genuinely contemplated it, “Let me ask my girlfriend,” after quickly typing something into his comm, he looked up and nodded, letting Caroline into his car.

When they arrived at his apartment, she gave a low whistle. The place was impressive, especially for a run-down city like Juss. “Come on in,” he invited. Smiling at the magic words, Caroline walked in, hips swaying in a way that she knew had men and women drooling.

“You’re kidding,” a familiar voice spoke from above her. Looking up at the top of the stairs, Caroline frowned, “Little Caroline,” Katherine smirked, “All grown up,” she leered appreciatively at the blonde’s tight red dress.

“Katherine,” Caroline said flatly.

Smirking, the brunette made her way down the stairs, “Kate. I go by Kate now. Drink?” She asked, making her way to the living room without bothering to see if Caroline was following her. Rolling her eyes, Caroline did. There were some things she liked seeing come around again; Katherine was not one of them.

~

“Caroline,” Stefan shook his head in a way that was all too familiar to the blonde, “You can’t just make yourself queen of England.”

The blonde girl pouted, “Why not?” She asked cutely.

“I agree,” Damon spoke as he gazed hungrily at a few of the servants waiting on them hand and foot, “Why not?”

Stefan let out a sigh, “It draws attention, for one. This will go down in history books. ‘In 4188, Caroline Forbes was coronated queen of England.’ People are already talking about how Gilelle gave the crown to some fourth cousin no one had ever heard of. Second, do you really think you can run a country, Caroline?”

The blonde shrugged, “How hard can it be?” Damon chuckled merrily in response from where he sat next to her, drinking the best of the royal liquor.

Once again, Stefan let out a sigh, as he rubbed his temple. Vampires didn’t get headaches, but this one did. Shaking his head, he simply left. Thousands of years and he still couldn’t change Caroline’s mind when a thought came to her. Imagining a country ruled by Caroline and Damon as King and Queen, Stefan shuddered and made his way to the nearest seaport, intent on leaving the country immediately. He didn’t want to be here for the fallout of this.

~

Caroline broke away hungrily from the man she had been draining. It had been seven hundred years since the pollution in the air caused the humans to evacuate into the few wooded areas left. There were so few woods and so many humans that it didn’t take long for it to become over-crowded. Over-crowding is what led to the problem in the first place; too many people using too many resources. Caroline remembered when she grew up, people had been warning about things like this: global warming, climate change, pollution and the destruction of the planet and humanity along with it. It had taken a long time, but it was finally happening.

It was a good thing she was already dead because no one could breathe the air anymore. It was 4972 and people wore masks that filtered the air so that they could live. Surgery was done at birth so that human lungs could withstand the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

Vampires, like Caroline, who couldn’t pretend they’d had the surgery, were forced to live in the forests, scavenging for whatever humans stayed out in the wilderness after the Second Breather was invented. She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d fed when she stumbled on the man hiding in the cave. She knew it was a long time. She also knew she’d gone longer without blood. Living in painful near-desiccation was old-hat for her now.

Picking up the body, she heaved it over her shoulders. The few mouthfuls of blood she’d taken were enough to help her continue on, but not enough to make her strong. Running as fast as she could (which wasn’t very fast at all), she returned to a small hole in the nearby cliffs which she lived in. Inside, was Tyler.

“You found someone,” he smiled weakly. Caroline lifted the limp arm of the dead body to the hybrid to drink. Tyler had it worse than her. She could survive off blood, but as a hybrid, Tyler needed both blood and food. Blood was scarce but food even scarcer.

Still, whenever one of them found someone to drink, they always shared, no matter how hard the urge to keep feeding was.

Hearing something, Caroline spun around, eyes turning dark as she prepared to kill someone else. Suddenly, Caroline relaxed, “Bonnie?” She asked in complete surprise. It had been seven hundred years since she had last seen one of the gang, longer since she’d last seen the witch. Klaus had turned her wanting the woman with the power of a thousand dead witches on his side. To say Bonnie wasn’t happy would be an understatement and to this day, Klaus still fears ticking her off again.

Bonnie had hoped to turn Jeremy, her boyfriend of two years, but like his sister, Jeremy wanted to live a normal life with a wife and kids and a dog. They were both heartbroken, but they moved on. When Jeremy was 36, however, he called her back up. No parent should have to bury his kids, but to lose his wife on the same day… The two reunited and on his 40th birthday, Jeremy became a vampire.

“Oh, Caroline,” Bonnie sighed, face filled with pity. As a witch, a vampire and one of Klaus’ favorites, the last several centuries had treated the girl well. She looked exactly the same as when she was turned; 19 and bright eyed. “I’ve been working with some witches. We’ve been giving the planet a jump start. The pollution is getting better. People have stopped using Second Breathers. You can come home,” She smiled softly before turning to look at Tyler, “Both of you,” She said sternly knowing how much the young hybrid hated his maker, but the two were so beyond overjoyed at being able to return that they didn’t care. They’d be able to drink and eat and live life like a normal person again.

~

Caroline felt her heart stop as she gazed down at the girl. She had mentally prepared herself but no amount of preparation could help her for this moment. Still, when she looked at Jimena, the first word that came to her mind was Elena.

By the sharp intake of breath from everyone beside her, she knew she wasn’t the only one. Elena, despite falling in love with both Salvatore brothers, never changed her mind about what she wanted. She and Matt, the only two humans left in the group, got married and had too many kids to count. Caroline suspected that she only married Matt because he was the only one who would understand and still be with her despite her being in love with someone else (two someone elses really).

“Hi, I’m Caroline,” the blonde started shakily, holding out her hand, “I’m new to Lunar University. Class of 5216. These are my friends Stefan, Damon, Jeremy, Bonnie and Tyler.”

“Nice to meet you,” the doppelganger smiled, “Let me show you around.”

When you live long enough, everything comes around twice. For the first time in a very long time, Caroline was happy that she had gone through everything that she had gone through. She was glad that she could be 17 forever. She saw so many amazing things, did so many amazing things and now, she got to do them all over again.


End file.
